My Personal Challenge

You may or not have noticed that I haven't been posting as much crap on Facebook as I used to.  And if you had noticed, you probably didn't really care enough to wonder why or if it was intentional.  Fortunately for you, here's the answer:  it IS intentional!

I've been talking a bit with friends and family about how I don't watch much TV anymore, even for having subscriptions to Hulu+ and Netflix.  The only show I've kept up with is New Girl because that shit's just too effin' funny and it only requires my attention for less than 30 minutes a week.  But anyway, before I got rid of our DVR and hi def cable, I was totally afraid of being without.  How would I catch my shows?  The reality shows I liked, like SYTYCD, weren't found on Netflix OR Hulu+!  Neither was CSI Vegas!  Noooo!

But I learned to live without it.  It wasn't even hard.  Out of sight, out of mind.  I don't miss any of it.  I can watch New Girl over and over on Hulu+ and then whatever random crap on Netflix, and I'm okay.

So it got me thinking.  What about my computer?  Would this work for that, too?  So I posed this challenge to myself about a week ago: use the computer as little as possible.  I didn't even tell anyone about it because I wasn't sure that I could even do it, and I really didn't need the embarrassment.  Now, during the last week or so of school I had to do a crapload of emailing as my room parent duties required it of me, but that wasn't fun stuff, anyway.  But what would count as using/not using my computer?

Blogging, for one, is always allowed.  For any reason and at any time for as long as it takes to compose something.  It's a totally cathartic thing for me and highly necessary.  Library usage, too.  Requesting, renewing, and keeping track of materials is a total must since we can have over 100 items out at any given time, and those fines add up FAST.  But everything else is non-essential and could be avoided whenever possible.  It is totally convenient to open my laptop to Google crap, and I still do, but constantly checking my Facebook is SO unnecessary.  Checking Imdb for an actor's name can be put off until I don't care anymore.  And not spending money out of my checking account means that I don't have to constantly check that anymore, too.  It also helps to be a member of Mint.com and they let me know when my balance gets low.

How's it been going?  Not too badly, and it's actually pretty easy to do without.  I get bored sometimes, but having put the laptop on the side also made me realize that it wasn't really very entertaining in the first place.  I check email and Facebook and Goodreads.  That's about it.  Not very exciting.  But like giving up smoking, giving up one habit kind of inspires you to fill that time more productively.  So the idea is that instead of Facebooking or Googling a million meaningless shit all the time, I would not just read more or play more, I would dedicate more of my attention to everything else I did.  I would try to be more present in the conversations I had or immerse myself in the movies or programs I watched.

It's only been about a week into my little experiment, but I'll keep you posted on how it goes.  It's really the perfect time to do it since it's summer and I have the time and inclination to do more fun shit that doesn't involve sitting at home on my computer or spending an hour at starbucks every morning before work starts.   I hope you all have as exciting a summer as I'm hoping to have!